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Author of "Rhythm of Life/' "Book of Daily 

Thoughts and Pbayers," "Spiritual Healing," 

"Secret of Right Activity," Era 




Second Edition 



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Reprinted from The Vedanta Monthly 

THE MESSAGE OF THE EAS1 

Second Impression 

Copyright 1918 by Swami Paramananda 



*f& 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

As physical science strives to demonstrate the 
laws of the material universe before it accepts 
them, so the science of Yoga seeks to prove the 
laws of the spiritual world. The one is the science 
of the seen, the other the science of the unseen. 
The aim of both is knowledge, but the processes 
employed necessarily differ. When people out of 
spiritual yearning want to prove the deeper facts 
of existence, Yoga offers them certain methods 
by which the revelation of these facts can be 
gained. The word means literally "union" — 
union between subject and object. Knowledge 
takes place through this union. There must al- 
ways be some point of contact. We cannot know^ 
Truth from a distance. We may make a mental 
picture of it, but it cannot be exact. For precise 
knowledge there must be contact and this contact 
is Yoga. 

There are, however, certain qualifications which 
we must possess before we can gain this union. 
First of all we must gather up our scattered forces 



4 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

and establish perfect unity in our own organism, 
between body, mind and soul. The Yoga system 
is not limited to the spiritual. It applies equally 
to all planes of activity. Its practices are directed 
along three distinct lines, — physical, mental and 
spiritual. The first step deals with that which is 
most immediate to us — our body. This special 
branch is known in India as Hatha- Yoga. Its 
chief aim is to establish a healthy balanced condi- 
tion in the body through physical exercises, pos- 
tures and by regulating the functions of the 
breath. It teaches us how to control every muscle, 
how to command all our energy, so that this phys- 
ical organism which is now so often a drawback 
may become a powerful instrument for higher in- 
vestigation. Through its practices we learn to 
carry ourselves with lightness and balance. A 
systematic knowledge of this branch of Yoga also 
helps us to prevent disease and decay. Longevity 
is one of the natural results of its study. Yogis 
live long because they know the laws of life and 
do not go against them, but we do not obey them 
because we are ignorant of them. People become 
nervous wrecks and invalids wholly because they 
transgress these laws. Yoga helps us to discover 
them and shows us how to obey them. 

We imagine that we are born with certain 
tendencies and that these compel us to act in a cer- 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 5 

tain way; but a Hatha Yogi — one who has at- 
tained absolute mastery over his body — claims 
that this is a mistake, that we have hypnotized our- 
selves into this negative thought, that there is no 
reason why we should follow blindly all our 
physical instincts. He tells us that we have latent 
powers within us, by awakening which we can 
unite our forces and gain all the strength neces- 
sary for complete mastery. Now we rush head- 
long, impelled by our self-imposed desires, until 
utterly exhausted we reach a state which we call 
old age. Yoga teaches that this is due wholly to 
our limited apprehension of the laws of life ; that 
if we will but study our organism and learn to 
use it with moderation and understanding, we may 
make of this body a most efficient and valuable 
instrument. There are people who live long yet 
never appear aged or worn out. This is because 
the Spirit within is beyond all time, space and 
causation ; and as man is able to turn his thoughts 
to that Spirit it brings him an ever fresh supply 
of Prana or Life-Force. 

The method by which we gain perfect control 
and balance in our physical system is known as 
Asanam or posture. The study of psychology 
shows that the greatest part of our activity origi- 
nates in the spinal column, where all the main 
nerve centres are located. Therefore it becomes 



6 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

necessary for us to keep this passage clear by 
sitting, walking and lying properly, in order that 
the life current may not be obstructed. Abnormal 
positions may wholly block our higher progress. 
Through experience we know that different states 
of mind tend to express themselves by certain 
positions of the body; grief and depression bend 
down the head and spine and contract the muscles, 
while joy expands the chest and lifts the whole 
frame. 

The reverse is equally true; when we hold the 
body in certain positions, it seems to awaken cer- 
tain kinds of thoughts. These fall into three 
general classes, called in Sankrit Sattwa, Rajas, 
and Tamas. Those thoughts which stimulate our 
lower brute instincts are produced by Tamas. 
They bring a sense of quietness, but it is the 
quietude of lethargy, not of concentrated energy. 
The second class, born of Rajas, give rise to ner- 
vous excitement, manifesting as excessive am- 
bition, envy, jealousy, discontent and all those 
states of mind which spring from lack of poise. 
Sattwa is the balancing factor between these two 
extremes. Through the systematic practice of 
various postures we can overcome both physical 
heaviness and nervous unrest; the muscles and 
bones can be made more flexible, the flow of the 
nerve currents more even; and the whole system 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 7 

will gain greater lightness and endurance as well 
as better health. 

Yoga offers a vast number of different pos- 
tures, each of which is supposed to quicken cer- 
tain latent forces in the nerve centres. Many of 
them are very intricate and practically impossible 
for ordinary persons. Sitting cross-legged on the 
floor, being the steadiest of all postures, has been 
adopted throughout the Orient ; and all the vary- 
ing postures in Yoga are based on this funda- 
mental position; but those to whom this is dif- 
ficult can gain good results by sitting on a straight 
chair, of such a height that the legs from the 
thigh to the knee are perfectly horizontal and the 
feet firmly planted on the ground. The principal 
points to keep in mind are : — The back, neck and 
head must be in a straight line and the chest erect, 
so that the nerve currents may have free action; 
there must not be the slightest leaning forward or 
backward or at any angle. The lips must be kept 
closed, but the teeth must not touch; while the 
hands must be relaxed and rest in the lap. At 
first such a posture may seem unnatural, but Yoga 
declares that what we consider natural may be 
really unnatural and what is now unnatural for 
us may become perfectly natural. 

Having taken the right posture, it is then neces- 
sary to make the breath rhythmic by maintaining 



8 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

an equal count for inhalation and exhalation. One 
of the commentators on Yoga says that this in- 
breathing and outbreathing serves as an auto- 
matic scrubber, cleansing the system of all im- 
purities. Through lack of conscious direction of 
our physical functions we have lost the habit of 
normal regular breathing, and this is one of the 
main causes of weakness and ill health. With 
the different postures there are specific breathing 
exercises given, the purpose of which is to re- 
move the density and lethargy of the body, to 
purify the nerve tissue and to establish a state of 
perfect balance. In every case, however, these 
must be modified to fit the individual need and 
should never be practiced indiscriminately or with- 
out competent guidance. 

We must remember that all this physical study 
is not an end in itself, but merely a preparation 
for higher metaphysical research. Until we have 
gained a certain amount of mastery over our outer 
being, it is impossible to attain inner mastery; 
but when this preliminary work is done, the next 
and more important step is the training of the 
mind, which is accomplished through the practice 
of discrimination and concentration. Discrimina- 
tion is that faculty of intelligence which enables 
us to ascertain the true value of all things in the 
universe. The right and constant exercise of this 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

faculty increases the alertness and jcee nness j )f 
the mind. The study of logic, ofi^mathematics 
and philosophy are especially directed to the culti- 
vationofTfie power of discrimination; but any 
systematic effort in our daily life to distinguish 
between the real and apparent, the essential and 
non-essential, the fleeting and the lasting will 
develop it. 

Discrimination alone, however, will not safe- 
guard our mental progress; for even though we 
may discover the real value of certain facts and 
laws, we are incapable of following them up with- 
out the power of concentratio n. Actually these 
two forms of mental activity are so inseparable 
that one cannot advance without the other. Dis- 
crimination like a searchlight points the way; 
concentration supplies the necessary power by 
which to reach the goal. Concentration means 
gathering up or focusing our scattered mental 
energies. As a general must gather together all 
his military resources before making an attack 
on the enemy, similarly our mind must assemble 
all its forces before it can hope to conquer Nature 
either without or within. 

Concentration forms a vital part of Yoga ; with- 
out it we can accomplish but little, because our 
mind dissipates its energy and defeats its own 
ends. The majority of us have not begun to use 



10 SCIENCE ANT> PRACTICE OF YOGA 

the whole of our mind. We use only a fragment 
and it is for this reason that the field of our ac- 
curate knowledge is so limited. The first effort 
in concentration should be to withhold the mind 
from unnecessary activities. This is done by per- 
sistently restraining all wandering aimless thought, 
all idle conversation, and all non-essential inter- 
ests, which now consume so much of our time 
and energy. We should next begin to diminish 
the circle of our thought until it is wholly in- 
drawn to the centre and has reached that state 
which in Yoga is defined as Ekagra or one-pointed. 

In the preliminary stages it becomes neces- 
sary to have a definite concrete point on which 
to focus the thought, — between the eyebrows, on 
the tip of the nose, on the heart as a lotus-bud 
filled with light, on a picture or symbol. Each one 
can choose whatever appeals to him, provided 
it has a purifying and strengthening influence. 
The object is of secondary importance, the chief 
thing is the mastery of the mind. Just as un- 
broken horses are useless, so is an untrained mind ; 
and we must sometimes resort even to rigid dis- 
cipline in order to gain full control over it. As 
it grows more obedient, however, we are able to 
draw it gradually from objective to subtler sub- 
jective forms. 

This leads naturally to the final step, — medi- 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 11 

tation. Meditation is the most practical of all 
branches of Yoga; because dealing as it does di- 
rectly with our innermost life, its only method of 
expression is silent practice. But meditation does 
not mean holding the mind in a negative dreamy 
state or on a vague abstraction. It means the 
continuous flow of the thought towards the Ideal 
without any break. It brings the unseen world 
before us and makes it real to us; then we no 
longer doubt or have confused ideas regarding 
spiritual things, but we know. Thus our Ideal be- 
comes an absolute reality for us, and through this 
realization we are spiritually regenerated. Also 
the knowledge gained by such realization is per- 
fect and unmistakable. The knowledge acquired 
through our sense perceptions is often erroneous, 
but when the mind is purified and the senses are 
spiritualized, then the vision which comes is free 
from error and productive of great good. 

True meditation cannot be taught by words, 
because it is beyond words. It has rather to do 
with the deeper feelings of the soul. First of all 
we must have eagerness to realize ; and the more 
we cultivate this eagerness, the better fitted we 
become for the life of meditation. The steadfast 
practice of meditation lifts us by degrees to a 
state of consciousness known as Samadhi or 
superconsciousness, which is the ultimate goal of 



12 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 

spiritual Yoga. When we reach this point, we 
are wholly freed from the bondage of the two 
lower stages of consciousness, known as the sub- 
conscious and the conscious. The subconscious 
represents the state of Tamos, dullness and inertia; 
the conscious corresponds to Rajas or the state 
of excessive activity; while in Sattwa, the state 
of pure serenity and lightness, we rise to the 
superconscious. It is when we are firmly estab- 
lished in this state, through the unbroken habit 
of meditation, that we gain all transcendental 
knowledge. 

The system of Yoga has existed in India from 
time immemorial and has always been regarded 
as an exact science, as fully demonstrable as any 
department of natural science. It does not ask 
that anything be accepted on hearsay. It declares 
that if we do certain things, we shall get certain 
results as surely as in any experiment of chemistry 
or physics. For instance, it teaches that if a man 
can observe the spirit of non-injury in his 
thoughts, words and deeds for a period of twelve 
years faithfully, he will acquire such subtle spirit- 
ual power that even the wild beasts of the jungle 
will forget their ferocity and become gentle in his 
presence. Christian saints have been known to 
experience this and it has been attributed to 
miraculous power ; but in reality it was the natural 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF YOGA 13 

outcome of a certain mode of living and think- 
ing. 

If a man, again, practices absolute truthfulness 
in all that he says, thinks and does, whatever he 
wills comes to pass; or if he observes complete 
silence for a certain time, he will gain the power 
of prophecy. The steadfast practice of continence 
also will develop the power of healing. The 
various exercises in breathing and posture, already 
mentioned, will bring equally definite results in the 
form of physical strength, will power, and super- 
sensuous perception. The difficulty is that ex- 
periments of this nature require great patience 
and perseverance; and when we lack these, we 
cannot help but doubt the plausibility of such 
claims. But even when we are willing to persist, 
we must remember that each must do according 
to his own physical and mental capacity. 

Moderation is absolutely necessary in order 
that we may maintain that perfect equilibrium, 
without which the goal cannot be reached. Do- 
ing too much is just as bad as not doing at all. 
Balance or evenness of mind is one of the defini- 
tions of Yoga given in the Bhagavad-Gita. Skill- 
fulness in action is another. This form of Yoga 
teaches how a man can take the most direct road 
to his end and thus avoid all wastefulness. There 
is nothing mysterious, dangerous or esoteric in 



14 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF TOGA 

the study of Yoga. It is true that certain psychic 
powers may be manifested as the result of the 
practices, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, 
thought-reading, etc.; but these are mere pass- 
ing consequences, which come to us as our inner 
organism becomes more purified and susceptible 
to finer vibrations. If we are careful not to at- 
tribute undue importance to them and move on- 
ward, we shall not be harmed or misled by them. 
We shall always be safe so long as we hold firmly 
before our mind's eye the ultimate goal of all the 
science and practice of Yoga, which is nothing 
short of direct vision of Truth and God-union. 



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